


I see your light is breaking through

by anonymouswatcher



Series: I'm not alone [2]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Schmico, possible ooc, t for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 14:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymouswatcher/pseuds/anonymouswatcher
Summary: Nico invites Levi to dinner with his kid. It doesn’t go as planned.Alternatively - 'Fuck. If there was anyone who could mess up a dinner three minutes into it, it would be me.'





	I see your light is breaking through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fishyz9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishyz9/gifts).



> Part 2 in the – I’m not alone series. You could try reading it without the first but it sure provides context. 
> 
> All characters belong to ABC and Shonda Rhimes - I am making no profit. Title from Kari Jobe’s “I’m not alone”
> 
> No beta and much dyslexia - I apologize. Dedicated to Fishyz9 – every time you post a fic, I shed a tear of happiness. Thanks for encouraging me to keep writing.

What the hell are you doing here Levi?

I look up at Nico’s apartment and sigh to myself. The cake I bought for dessert hangs in a bag on my arm, feeling like an anchor dragging me straight to hell. 

He invited me to dinner with him. And Katie – his kid.

Sort of his kid – it’s still so weird to think he took on full responsibility of a child when he was 23 and was still able to pursue his medical career.

If he could do that, the least I could do was this. I swallow my insecurities and worry about the night deep into myself and climb the three short stories to his apartment. I knock on the appropriate door number and hope for the best.

I can hear a little bit of shuffling and then the door is open revealing none other than Katie. 

“Oh, hi! I brought cake,” I say as I lift the plastic bag in my hand. She gives me an unreadable look before looking over her shoulder, “Oppa! Your boyfriend is here!” 

I feel my blood drain at her term of endearment. It wasn’t untrue, but it was still off-putting to hear it leave her mouth. 

She steps – more like hobbles - to the side to make room for him in the doorway. I can still see the cast sticking out the bottom of her pants – an echo to our first meeting.

“He’s a little pale, is that normal?” she asks Nico as he appears. He shushes her before letting his eyes settle on me. With that one look, I feel the nervousness vanish out my body. In his eyes, I feel familiarity and comfort.

“Hey dude,” he rumbles, “Come in.” He moves to the side and I slowly make my way into the apartment, Katie accepting the cake and heading in the direction of what I assume is the kitchen. It was everything I expected out of Nico’s home. There is sleek furniture accentuating the modern appliances. Further into the apartment, I can see floor to ceiling windows and an expansive bookcase. Littered around the space are a pair of headphones, a biology textbook, and a pair of sneakers way too small for Nico – evidence of the apartment’s young occupant. 

I kick off my shoes and turn to my partner. He gives me an appreciative look before pulling me into a hug. “It will be fine. She can be a little tough but she has a great heart. Mostly”

Katie ambles back into the living room, “He brought a chocolate cake. Doesn’t he know you can’t stand chocolate pastries?” Nico releases me from our embrace and sends a glare her way I can feel, obviously not wanting me to feel awkward or uncomfortable.

You have to love a teenager’s brutal honesty and lack of empathy. 

“Is it going to be this bad when I meet your parents?” I say with a chuckle – hoping to lighten the mood while I file away the fact I certainly did not know. 

Something dark passes through his eyes and I see Katie tense as she stares up at him. 

Fuck. If there was anyone who could mess up a dinner three minutes into it, it would be me. 

There is a pregnant pause before Katie breaks the silence, “So, dinner?”

After that initial stumble, we fall into a comfortable rhythm. We share the kitchen - chopping vegetables and sharing banter. It feels very domestic but at the same time…. natural. I am actually enjoying myself and thankful they were willing to share their home with me. It was amazing to see Nico interact with Katie as well. His normal cocky and confident self was obviously checked at the door and replaced with an open, full-belly laughing, almost coy individual. I’ve never seen him like this at the hospital and only gotten glimpses during our time together. When I think I could not fall for this man anymore, he just keeps on surprising me. Being a dad looks good on him.

A ring echoes through the apartment and Nico abandons his carrots to go find the source.

“Ah, shit!” Katie and I hear from the kitchen. We make eye contact – both curious as to what caused the exclamation. He comes back in flustered and begins packing things away. 

“I am so sorry – to both of you. There’s an Ortho emergency - I have to go into the hospital. But it’s so late to call someone to watch her,” he explains in a rush as he nods in Katie’s direction. 

“I don’t need a sitter! I’m old enough. I’m 15,” comes from the grumbly teen.

“That is still too young to stay overnight by yourself. Maybe Emmy can come over and watch you.” He turns to me to explain “Linc sometimes stays with her when I have an overnight shift but if I got called in, he definitely did too.” I can see the protests bubbling in Katie.

“I can stay alone it’s fine! You leave me during the day.”

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – it’s not. You can’t stay alone at night until you’re at least 16.”

As they bicker I contemplate the situation at hand. Nico and I have been pretty serious up to now. Watching his kid for a night feels like a natural step in our relationship.

What could go wrong? Right? 

“I mean…. I can stay with her? Until you get back,” I offer. Nico immediately shuts me down “No babe, I would never expect you to do that.”

I shake my head and walk until I am right in front of my boyfriend, “I know you wouldn’t but I want to – honestly. We can finish up making food for when you get back. Besides, I love kids.”

“Again, I’m 15,” Katie offered.

Nico flashes a brilliant, almost blinding, grin, “You’re just the best you know that?” I only smile in response. 

Nico gives me a chaste kiss and a smooch to the top of Katie’s head.

“Bye! Stay out of trouble!” he yells out as he grabbed his keys and ran out the door.

“Bye!”

“Bye Oppa.”

The closing of the door permeates throughout the apartment and an awkward silence falls upon the room. To be fair, the awkwardness is mostly from me but nobody asked.

I hesitantly walk towards the young girl at the table who looks up and smirks.

I think I may have miscalculated how this night would go. 

“So…want to play a game or something?” I offer

She gets up without a word and hobbles to the fridge which she opens and grabs a beer. As she walks towards the opener I realize I am way over my head, “Do you think you maybe want to get something else?”

She makes eye contact with me as she cracks it open. The cap falls to the floor and makes a dramatic roll across the surface to my feet. I look down and watch it make a pathetic stop. 

I am beyond fucked.

“Hey, no seriously. I think Nico would be really upset if you drink that. You are nowhere near the legal age,” I raise my voice slightly so that she knows I mean business. I hope the slight tremor doesn’t sound as obvious to her as it does to myself. She may not be biologically Nico’s but I still recognize his smirk once again sliding onto her face. 

“Vaffanculo,” is all she mutters.

“Okay I am unsure what you said but I don’t like the tone it was said in. Obviously, Nico has been teaching you his language. Which is very sweet when I think about it but it’s beside the point – cut this out.”

She raises a single eyebrow and places the bottle to her lips as if to take a sip.

“Young lady, put that down right now! There is no reason for you to consume that. It is not legal and it is definitely not appropriate!”

She looks at me with a look of surprise and appreciation at my outburst. I can feel myself shaking as she puts the alcoholic beverage down and slides it across the kitchen island to me.

“Here you look like you need,” she says with a small laugh. I am thoroughly confused but I pick up the bottle anyway to take a swig. She wasn’t wrong. I look over to her and the exasperation on my face must be enough for her to give an explanation.

“I do this test to every person that Nico has ever brought home - friend or…. other, you know”

I unconsciously tighten my grip on the beer when she insinuates the past lovers of my very present partner. 

“Possessive – I like that,” she smirks. “Anyway, I do something like this to all of them when he would go to the bathroom or was in the kitchen cooking. You and Linc are the only ones that ever really tried to stop me. Most of them think it’s funny or cool. The rest pretended not to see or thought I wasn’t their problem.”

“Well, Nico cares about you so now I do too,” I start. “Plus, you aren’t anyone’s ‘problem’ – you are your own beautiful, intelligent, person. They should appreciate getting to know you.”

Even to myself, it sounds like I am buttering her up to win over her favor. Surprisingly, I wasn’t being facetious. I haven’t known the girl long but from what I have seen she is an amazing human.

She holds my gaze for a few beats and I can see the exact moment her body relaxes. She can see I was being genuine in my claims. 

With all the excitement calmed down, I am curious to ask her a question that still haunts me from earlier in the night. “Can I ask you a personal question?” I start.

“It’s a free country,” she says as the leans back onto the counter. I swear this girl really is fifteen going on fifty.

“Nico tensed up when I mentioned his parents. Is there a reason for that?”

For the first time all night, Katie looks guarded and somewhat sad. She lets out a heavy sigh before continuing, “He’s gay and I’m black – not exactly the life they pictured for their perfect, only son. They’re civil enough as time has gone on but we don’t seem them much for a reason. It’s not my place to tell you his history but be patient with him. It’s a rough story for both of us.”

She pauses and looks down. I see her take a deep breath before continuing, her head high and eyes intense. 

“I care about him a lot, okay? I know you can see he is really all I have in the world. He is my world. So, you break his heart and I break you. Don’t be another rough story.”

Her stuck out, defiant chin and hands on her hips don’t guard the mist in her eyes from talking about Nico and my heart breaks. I know what it is like for Nico to be your everything – but if there is one in the world who loves him more than me - she is standing right before me. All the questioning and tests she played were because she was afraid of losing Nico – to me or pain caused by me. I reach out and pull Katie into a deep hug and the flood gates open for us both. We stand there in a silent cry for several moments until I step back and hold her shoulders in a comforting squeeze, “I will do everything in my power not to hurt him. Or you. Both of you are stuck with me now until you’re tired of me.”

Emotions doing nothing but bringing on exhaustion, we walk to the couch to rest – dinner long forgotten. And that’s where Nico find us hours later when he returns. Katie’s head delicately placed on a pillow in my lap – my hand running softly over her curls. 

“Didn’t go too bad did it?” he says with a chuckle. “She doesn’t make you want to run for the hills?”

I look up at him with a stoic face, “Actually no. I am happy right where I am. She’s an awesome kid. Thank you for sharing her with me.” 

I can see how taken aback he is and his eyes fills with warmth.

God, I love this man.

He lifts her off the couch bridal style disappears deeper into the apartment. I take this time to really process the night, my hands clenched tightly into fists as I wait for Nico. He returns a few minutes later empty-handed and collapses on the couch next to me.

I immediately snuggle into his side. His arm feels grounding as it wraps around me. He feels like home.

“She really is great you know,” I whisper into his neck. I more feel than hear his murmur of confirmation. I look up to see his eyes closed and head resting against the back of the sofa.

“I’m sorry I brought up your parents.”

As soon as the words left my mouth his eyes snapped open and his head whipped forward.

“I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so frank. Katie told me it wasn’t her story to tell and that it’s a bit rough. I am here if you want to talk about it.”

I could see so many things flash through his eyes. But he only sighed and pulled me closer. 

“Another time but not tonight. Tonight – just lay with me”

And what could I say? I leaned more into him and began drifting off to sleep, comforted in his arms and knowing Katie was peacefully asleep a few feet away.

But one thing just one nagging thought wouldn’t leave me to fully rest.

“Hey, what does ‘vaffanculo’ mean?”

**Author's Note:**

> Oppa – older brother (Korean)  
> Vaffanculo – Fuck off (Italian)
> 
> I do not condone underage drinking in any way.  
> I’ll probably do another addition with that hard conversation but would love any insight or prompts.  
> Also, I’m sorry I made Nico’s parents shitty. We have heard nothing about his background and this just fit this story. They could be lovely people for all I know.  
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!!!


End file.
